OMAHA, Neb. -- The No. 13 Bellevue University baseball team belted four home runs in a non-conference double-header sweep of Peru State College on Friday afternoon on Striking Out Cancer on Payton's Day at John Stella Field at Brown Park.
The Bruins won the opener 11-3 before run-ruling the Bobcats 10-0 in the nightcap on a day dedicated to the memory of Payton Higgins.
Bellevue improves to 25-10 on the year while Peru State falls to 11-24.
Game One: BU 11, PSC 3
Alec Ackerman and Elijah Bear both blasted home runs in multi-hit games in an 11-3 series opening victory.
Back-to-back doubles from Logan Grant and Ackerman in the first staked Bellevue to a 1-0 lead.
Will Reynolds tied things up in the third. Xavier Solla flared a double into shall right and Reynolds followed up with a double into the left field corner.
Bellevue immediately responded with Grant chasing in a run with a sac fly. Ackerman followed up with a two-run home run to left. His 30th career home run moved Ackerman into some select company as he is just the seventh Bruin to reach that milestone.
Randy Jimenez and Angel Andrades delivered solo home runs in the fifth and seventh, respectively, bookending a CJ Townsend run on a double play in the sixth.
Andrades' home run in the 7th made it a 5-3 game but Bellevue quickly reestablished a comfortable lead. Steven Elsner singled in a run in the bottom of the seventh and two batters later Elijah Bear ripped a towering three-run home run.
Two runs scored on a Nick Gravel infield single and subsequent error in the eighth to afford BU a little extra breathing room in the form of an 11-3 lead.
Brock Townsend (1-2), making his first start since February, struck out four across five strong innings in which he allowed just two runs on four hits.
Dylan Pavletich (2-5) logged five innings in the loss. He surrendered five runs on eight hits before being lifted after allowing the first three batters to reach in the sixth.
Brady Toth picked up his second save of the year with four innings of two-hit, one-run relief.
Game Two: BU 10, PSC 0 (7 Innings)
Steven Elsner and Tyler Monroe home runs backed Dustin Schorie (5-1) as the right-hander fired a four-hit, shutout striking out eight to secure the series win with a 10-0 seven-inning victory.
Logan Grant opened the scoring in the first with an opposite field double to score Jake Lacey. Elsner followed two batters later with a home run down the left field line.
The score remained 3-0 until Monroe led off the fourth with a home run to left center.
Bellevue added two more runs in the sixth on doubles from Monroe and Nick Gravel for a 6-0 advantage.
Run-scoring singles by Anthony Lind and Gravel before a bases loaded hit-by-pitch from Lacey stretched the lead to 9-0. Grant hit a ground ball to first that __ fielded but opted to get the out at the first base bag instead of coming home first allowed Lind to sprint home and beat the tag to end the game.
Kevin Diaz (2-6) showed good stuff at times as he struck out six but allowed six runs on nine hits over five innings for Peru State.
Up Next:
The Bruins and Bobcats wrap up their three-game set with a 2 p.m. first pitch at Peru State's Centennial Complex.
